Obstacles to student mobility in the EU

Anthony ValckeExternal Lecturer &

Legal Supervisor, EU Rights Clinic

Student mobility in the words of...

“After students have come back from their

Erasmus exchanges, they feel like different

people. They respect themselves, they respect

their own national culture, and they also know

how to interact with people who are not from their

culture. They are not judgmental. They develop a

thirst for diversity. They’re different people.

They’ve got that extra something.”

Prof. Sofia Corradi “Mamma Erasmus”

Research

• to identify the current EU rules affecting student

mobility in the EU

• to identify continuing obstacles that hamper the

achievement of these goals

• to suggest solutions to overcome them

Erasmus programme

• Original Erasmus target 10% of higher education students in Europe should

temporarily study outside of their country of origin

• 1987-2012 2.2m participating students

3,200 participating institutions

33 participating countries

230,000 Erasmus exchanges per annum

compares to 400,000+ for national mobility

programmes

Origin of Erasmus studentsEstonia0.60%

Ireland2.01%

Greece21.18%

Spain18.59%

France1.47%

Italy12.90%

Cyprus0.15%

Latvia1.15%

Lithuania2.00%

Luxembourg0.26%

Hungary2.44%

Malta0.00%

Netherlands5.03%

Austria3.05%

Poland8.33%

Portugal3.49%

Romania2.70%

Slovenia0.87%

Slovakia1.44%

Finland2.97%

Sweden1.85%

United Kingdom7.51%

Destination of Erasmus students

Malta0.38%

Slovenia0.45%

Estonia0.67%

Latvia0.92%

Denmark0.95%

Luxembourg1.28%

Finland1.49% Hungary

1.55%

Lithuania1.81%

Belgium1.83%

Czech Republic2.11%

Austria2.21%

United Kingdom2.50%

Netherlands2.57%

Sweden2.66%

Spain3.33%

Portugal3.42%

Bulgaria4.23%

Ireland4.27%

Cyprus4.44%

Slovakia5.44%

Greece5.79%

Poland5.85%

Romania6.91%

Italy8.07%

France8.95%

Germany15.92%

EU rules affecting student mobility

• Article 21 TFEU – rights of EU citizens to move

freely throughout EU Directive 2004/38 on residence rights

• Article 18 TFEU – discrimination on basis of

nationality is prohibited

• Article 49 TFEU – right of establishment

• Articles 165 & 166 – EU can take supporting,

coordinating and supplementary actions in the

areas of education and vocational training

• Article 79 TFEU – common immigration policy Directive 2004/114 (students) & Directive 2005/71

(researchers)

Obstacles by category

• lack of information

• low motivation

• inadequate financial support

• foreign language skills

• insufficient opportunity within framework of

curriculum

• quality of mobility experiences

• legal and administrative barriers

• recognition of study completed abroad

Lack of information

• “Study in Europe” Portal

http://ec.europa.eu/education/study-in-europe/

• Euridyce

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/

• Information & advice services Europe Direct

Your Europe Advice

Inadequate financial support

• Average mobility grant €254 per month

• Erasmus student mobility grants €270/€310/€370 from

the UK

BAND 1 Bulgaria, Romania

BAND 2 Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia,

Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland,

Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey

BAND 3 Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France,

Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein,

Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain,

Sweden, Switzerland

Inadequate financial support

• 7 out of 32 EHEA countries provide no funding

to study abroad

• Restrictions on accessing student finance

Lawful• Directive 2004/38, Art. 24(2)

– Förster C-158/07

• Children of frontier workers – Giersch C-20/12

Unlawful• Three years settlement rule in UK

– Bidar C-209/03

• “Three out of six years” residence rule in NL– Commission v Netherlands C-542/2009

Legal and administrative obstacles

• Tuition fees

Charging higher fees to EU students than national

students • Discrimination on basis of nationality contrary to Art. 18

TFEU– Forcheri Case 152-82

– Gravier Case 293/83

– Blaizot Case 24/86

Residence requirements

• Netherlands – reduced fee for residents of NL, B, L,

DE (Nordrhein-Westfalen, Niedersachsen or Bremen)

• UK – home student status for EEA national who have

been resident in EEA for last three years

Legal and administrative obstacles

• Accreditation of university branches abroad

University of Kent’s Brussels School of International

Studies

Accreditation by Flemish Community in Belgium

List A => visas processed by local consulate

List B => visas processed by ODE in Brussels

Masters programmes • 90 ECTS (UK)

• 60 Belgian «study points»

Legal and administrative obstacles

• Residence formalities

Directive 2004/38• sufficient resources

• comprehensive sickness insurance cover

Specific problems

• proof of sufficient resources (UK, B)

• comprehensive sickness insurance cover for students

(B)

• reliance on NHS (UK)

Recognition of study completed abroad

• Circular of the Ministry for Universities and

Scientific and Technological Research (2001)

university degree awarded to Italians by UK

universities not recognised by Italy when the

preparatory courses for those degrees were provided

in Italy

• provision of university studies in a second country falls

within EU rules on freedom of establishment

• Italian measures constitute a restriction on freedom of

establishment

– Neri C-153/02

Some solutions

• Replace Residence Directive with a Regulation

• New Commission powers?

"Infringement Decisions"• Modelled on competition rules Art’s 101 & 102 TFEU

– need procedural Regulation

• Complementary to Article 258 TFEU

a.valcke@kent.ac.uk

Thank you for your attention!